Kim Kardashian received an unexpected medical wake-up call during a recent episode of The Kardashians. During the November 27 episode of the Hulu reality show, a brain scan revealed that Kardashian had “low brain activity” in her frontal lobe, just after learning she had been living with a small, undetected brain aneurysm for years.
The results shocked the 45-year-old business mogul, who has spent much of 2025 juggling an intense schedule, including studying for the California bar exam, filming Ryan Murphy’s All’s Fair, and confronting legal battles over her high-profile divorce from Kanye West (Ye).
During the scan, celebrity psychiatrist Dr. Daniel Amen discovered “holes” in Kardashian’s brain’s activity map, meaning that parts of her frontal lobes appear underactive. While Dr. Amen confirmed that she’s not at high risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease, he explained that due to her underactivity in her frontal lobes, managing pressure and emotional strain could become more difficult. Read Dr. Amen’s comments below:
The front part of your brain is less active than it should be. With your frontal lobes, as they work now, it would be harder to manage stress and that’s not good for you, especially as you’re studying and you’re getting ready to take the boards.
Dr. Amen told Kardashian that her results may be connected to the “chronic stress” she endures while studying for the California bar exam. Kardashian was stunned in the face of this new medical reality, and says she’s not ignoring the warning signs. Check out her full comments below:
That just can’t be. It just can’t — not accepting. I got to get on a plan to really figure this out because I have some s–t to do this summer.
Dr. Amen pointing at Kim Kardashian’s brain scan in The KardashiansImage via Hulu
While the discovery was alarming on its own, it became more concerning when paired with the news from the previous episode of The Kardashians. The Skims founder had revealed that a recent Prenuvo scan discovered a small aneurysm in her brain, which the doctors believed had been there for years. She explained that once she went in for a consult with Dr. Keith Black, she was shocked to hear that her aneurysm was caused by stress.
Kardashian admitted that the stress she’s under has become something she’s almost numb to, acknowledging that she often puts her needs last. The scan results, however, made it clear that ignoring her health and well-being is no longer a viable option. For a figure who has built much of her public persona on discipline, ambition, and determination, this moment marks a striking shift in her narrative and for the narrative of The Kardashians.